ISLAMABAD - South African leg spin magician Imran Tahir of Pakistani-origin has said that he joined Multan Sultans aiming to help them become crowned champions.
Talking to The Nation from Dubai, Tahir said: “By the grace of Almighty, I am feeling like home-coming as it is very pleasant experience for me to be part of the Pakistan Super League (PSL). I have always dreamt of playing cricket at the highest level and as soon as I got the chance of playing in the PSL, the only one thing in my mind was to help Multan Sultans become crowned champions.”
He said it is one of the biggest and best leagues of the cricketing world. “Playing for Multan Sultan is a very wonderful experience for me, as here I am sharing the dressing room with cricket legends. Multan Sultans and I are debutant and both are eager to earn glories in the PSL. The way Multan is performing and the players are giving their 100 percent, I hope we will go a long way and if we play like this in next two or three matches, I am sure we will qualify for the semifinals and that is our first aim of ensuring at least semifinal slot first and then take a step further.”
Tahir belongs to Pakistan where he played his majority of his first class and then he moved to South Africa, where he struggled hard and succeeded in getting place in South African cricket team. When Imran was asked why he didn’t prefer to represent his country in international cricket, he said: “I feel, it was destiny. It was not in my destiny to play for Pakistan, but I feel, Almighty is the super power and knows well what is best for a person. I am proud that I have played my entire cricket in Pakistan, but one thing is clear, wherever I have played cricket, I played with lot of mutual respect and tried my best to give out my best, fortunately, I succeeded in achieving most of my tasks successfully.
“I am highly grateful to all those, who helped me. It was my dream to play international cricket and it was South Africa, which fulfilled my dream and I feel honoured and humbled to play and represent such a wonderful cricketing nation. South Africa is my home now and I would do whatever I can to help Proteas challenge for major titles and as a professional cricketer, one expect to perform every day,” he added.
Replying to a query regarding whether he would come and play in Lahore and Karachi in case Multan made it to the semifinals and then the mega final and whether he would use his good relations with other top international players to convince them to come and play in Pakistan, he said: “Off course, I will definitely go and help Multan Sultans push for the title in case they reach the semifinals. I will also try my level best to convince international stars not to pay heed on rumours regarding security issues in Pakistan.
“I am sure they will love and cherish those moments, if they come and play in Pakistan. The way Pakistanis give respect and hospitality is second to none. I am quite hopeful that all the international mega stars will come and play in Lahore and Karachi. Pakistan is very beautiful and sports-loving country and people give too much respect to international stars,” he added.
About his hat-trick during the PSL, Imran said: “Off course, I am really glad for my hat-trick in PSL match. Hat-tricks are not done on daily basis and I am glad that I produced what was being expected from me. But I feel I would love to play key role in helping Sultans keep on winning, rather than remembering hat-trick, as it is over now and every day is fresh, so we have to keep on winning to boost our chances to win the coveted PSL-3 trophy,” Imran Tahir concluded.
MOHSIN ALI
